Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Medical Journal logoLink to British Medical Journal
. 1971 Jun 12;2(5762):617–619. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5762.617

Fatal Fat Embolism following Replacement Arthroplasty for Transcervical Fractures of Femur

G A Gresham, A Kuczyǹski, D Rosborough
PMCID: PMC1796459  PMID: 5580720

Abstract

Seven cases are reported of death in old people associated with transcervical fractures of the femur and occurring shortly after insertion of a Thompson prosthesis. They are compared with six fatalities following similar injury but not surgically treated and with three which followed internal fixation. Positive controls for massive fat embolism were selected from fatal cases of multiple and severe skeletal fractures due to road accidents.

It seems likely that patients undergoing this operation are peculiarly susceptible to lethal fat embolism. The clinical features, diagnosis, pathological aspects, and prevention of fat embolism are discussed.

Full text

PDF
617

Images in this article

618p618-a
on p.618

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ADDISON J. Prosthetic replacement in the primary treatment of fracture of femoral neck. Proc R Soc Med. 1959 Nov;52:908–910. doi: 10.1177/003591575905201105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burgess D. M. Cardiac arrest and bone cement. Br Med J. 1970 Sep 5;3(5722):588–588. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5722.588-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fred H. L., Willerson J. T., Alexander J. K. Neurological manifestations of pulmonary thromboembolism. Arch Intern Med. 1967 Jul;120(1):33–37. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GARCIA A., Jr, NEER C. S., 2nd, AMBROSE G. B. Displaced intracapsular fractures of the neck of the femur. 1. Mortality and morbidity. J Trauma. 1961 Mar;1:128–132. doi: 10.1097/00005373-196103000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hillman J. W., LeQuire V. S. Lipid metabolism and fat embolism after trauma: the contribution of serum lipoproteins to embolic fat. Surg Forum. 1968;19:465–467. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hunter G. A. A comparison of the use of internal fixation and prosthetic replacement for fresh fractures of the neck of the femur. Br J Surg. 1969 Mar;56(3):229–232. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800560319. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hyland J., Robins R. H. Cardiac arrest and bone cement. Br Med J. 1970 Oct 17;4(5728):176–177. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5728.176-c. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. REYNOLDS F. C. Preliminary report of the Committee on Fractures and Traumatic Surgery on the use of a prosthesis in the treatment of fresh fractures of the neck of the femur. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1958 Jul;40-A(4):877–passim. doi: 10.1097/00043764-195901000-00048. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ross A. P. The fat embolism syndrome: with special reference to the importance of hypoxia in the syndrome. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1970 Mar;46(3):159–171. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sevitt S. The boundaries between physiology, pathology, and irreversibility after injury. Lancet. 1966 Dec 3;2(7475):1203–1210. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(66)92299-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Stokes J. Infection in the nursery. Br Med J. 1970 Aug 29;3(5721):523–523. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5721.523. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES